Tag: Consumer Protection

The promoters of a bogus investment scheme have agreed to a $24 million settlement to resolve Federal Trade Commission charges that they conned consumers into buying precious metals on credit without clearly disclosing significant costs and risks.

Next time you’re in a long line at the grocery store, watch how parents distract a kid who's feeling cranky. They used to jangle keys or offer a favorite toy. But now a lot of Moms and Dads hand them a smartphone with an app designed for children. As the kids' app market continues...

The Federal Trade Commission issued a new staff report, “Mobile Apps for Kids: Disclosures Still Not Making the Grade,” examining the privacy disclosures and practices of apps offered for children in the Google Play and Apple App stores. The report details the results of the FTC’s second survey...

Curious about the Red Flags Rule, an identity theft prevention measure first issued in 2007? The FTC has announced a new Interim Final Rule that narrows the circumstances when a creditor is covered. Are you and your clients up on the latest?

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz issued the following statement regarding the Sentencing of Osman Bah, of Owings Mills, Md., to 108 months in prison for his role in a phony sweepstakes scheme that defrauded thousands of U.S. consumers of more than $10 million. Operators of this...

It’s called history sniffing — the practice of “sniffing” people’s web browsers to determine if they’ve visited certain sites. According to the FTC’s lawsuit against Epic Marketplace and affiliated companies, history sniffing is a particularly invasive form of tracking that raises...

An online advertising company agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it used “history sniffing” to secretly and illegally gather data from millions of consumers about their interest in sensitive medical and financial issues ranging from fertility and incontinence to debt relief and...

The wheels are turning on proposed updates to the FTC’s Used Car Rule. Formally known as the Used Motor Vehicle Trade Regulation Rule (although only its Mother calls it that), the Rule has been in effect since 1985. It requires car dealers to display a window sticker, called a...

The Federal Trade Commission put a stop to a California-based auto loan modification operation that settled FTC charges after allegedly deceived consumers with false promises that it could get auto loans modified and stop cars from being repossessed.

As part of the Federal Trade Commission’s systematic review of all of the agency’s rules and guides to ensure that they are up-to-date, effective, and not overly burdensome, the FTC is seeking public comment on proposed changes to the Used Car Buyers Guide required by the agency’s Used Car Rule....

At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal district court temporarily shut down a robocall operation that allegedly impersonated the agency in an attempt to trick consumers into turning over their bank account information and other sensitive personal data, pending resolution of the...

Some sports fans spend Saturdays on the field. For the rest of us, raising a Big Foam Finger is exertion enough. But we’ve all read stories about the dangers that head injuries pose to participants in contact sports. That’s why the FTC is continuing to raise concerns about...